Hard Rock Hell III - The Vikings' Ball - proved to be another truly amazing event for Attica Rage and all the merry thousands who converged on Pontins Prestatyn between 3rd and 6th December.  In fact, it was quite possibly the best yet!  As a band, this was our first return to HRH, having successfully made our mark the year before at HRH II on the Young Blood Stage in Stage 3 aka the Queen Vic pub.  As punters, this was actually our 3rd year attending, having been witness to the birth of the HRH empire at the inaugural weekender in Minehead back in 2007.  We would all have been returning this year without a doubt - but for Attica to be invited back to perform was an honour and another major boost for what has been a massive year for us.

HRH III saw Attica Rage moving up a stage, literally, to kick-start the fancy-dress VIP Opening Party in Arena 2, in front of 1000+ HRH veterans, Dark Circle members (HRH die-hards!), VIP ticket-holders and assorted media, industry and rock royalty.  And Vikings.  The rest of the line-up on our night included Marshall Law, Beholder, G.M.T. and Weapon - followed over the weekend by the big-hitters including Monster Magnet, W.A.S.P., Queensryche & New York Dolls.

But in addition to our opening party night set, we had also agreed to play an afternoon set on the Friday in a competition winner's own chalet living room! Congratulations to winner Petrina and husband Simon who were celebrating their wedding anniversary at HRH.  We hope we helped make it one to remember!  Undoubtedly the most bizarre gig we have ever played but a whole lotta fun!

So, the band itinerary (as we knew it) was Thursday Party night on Stage 2, Friday afternoon Chalet gig and Saturday afternoon fan signing session.  However, at soundcheck on Thursday we learned that unfortunately Cloven Hoof had cancelled their Stage 3 gig on the Saturday and we were asked if we would be up for filling in. Yeah, absolutely! we were there for the full weekend anyway so let's celebrate three years of Hard Rock Hell by playing three sets, bring it on!

We arrived on-site on Thursday 3 December around 4pm and didn't leave until Sunday 6th around 3pm - there are so many great memories, stories & anecdotes that we could stick into this blog but the most important thing you need to know that happened at HRH III is that we officially teamed up with John Davis & HRH Management - a major milestone in Attica Rage history (read our last blog for more about that).

Here are some of the other weekend highlights:




THURSDAY:

* Dressing room banter with the Marshall Law boys - great bunch and always up for a laugh
* Mr HRH John Davis drops in to wish us well, all dressed up for the Viking Ball fancy dress party night as..erm...a Spartan Roman centurion?!!  Fair enough...it's his gig after all!  Or is that a sneaky hint for a future HRH theme perhaps?....

* Thursday night showtime: 9-song set including 5 new songs plus fan faves Contradictions, Attica Rising, Dark City and finishing with Back to the Old School. 45 mins. Boom!  Whole set goes by in a flash.
* First time using Blackstar Amplification - we've found our sound! On-stage mix is crushingly loud but clear as a whistle - best on-stage mix we've had yet. Stage lighting looks really cool from where we're standing too.
* The roar of our crowd before, during and between each song is deafening and seriously overwhelming - Attica chants all the way!
* Definitely our biggest gig and the most important of our career to date, not just because we knew there were more than a few important industry people out watching in the audience, but the fan reaction is immense and we make a good few hundred new ones. We feel like we've arrived...

* Marshall Law, Beholder, GMT and Weapon rock the stage afterwards - the Law are on top form; Beholder seem even more brutal and intense than we remember - big Simon owns the stage; G.M.T are just classic in every way and Weapon are good but by this point, our memories aren't the best to be honest!
* Meet Tom Russell, Martin Kielty and 'Ted' from Rock Radio - everyone is on their way to becoming well & truly oiled.  Good start to the weekend!
* 2am Friday morning - John's finished his DJ set and the venue is closing for the night....off to find a party then!
* Chalet party with our friends Carrie & Phil - more drinks & banter - Phil introduces Jonny to a blend of Jack Daniels new to him: Gentleman Jack.  Tasty!

....several hours of drinks, music, chat and merryment ensue until...

FRIDAY:

* 7am,somewhere in Pontins Prestatyn, Jonny, Pup & co are still partying and are now drinking White Russian cocktail out of a stainless steel teapot whilst mingling with a few pyjama-clad early-risers.
* 10am, Jonny is finally escorted back to his chalet by 3 security guys after being found sleeping peacefully, flat-out on the gents toilet floor in the main venue, snoring his sorry drunken ass off! At least it wasn't the ladies....
* 11.30am, business meeting with John Davis - contract discussions, hands shaken, everyone in agreement - Attica Rage are now officially represented by HRH Management! One of the most significant and important milestones for the band!  Watch this space.
* 1pm, Dark Circle Meeting - booze-up get-together with the HRH veteran DC members with updates from the boss on 2010 events & plans.  Photographic evidence of the earlier black-out incident circulates...Thanks Howard, ha ha!




 
* 3.30pm, Chalet #121: the most bizarre gig venue Attica have ever played!
* Meet the Metal Hammer team; Alex, Vanessa, Caren & Dom Lawson, who is asking Jonny about the events of that morning. The tape recorder Dom's holding doesn't go unnoticed.  Uh oh........ ;)
* 4.30pm, Gig kicks off...phew, this is tight!  Richie is crammed into the kitchen area with only 1 bass drum, snare, 1 tom and 1 cymbal, a microwave oven next to his head and an ironing board that falls towards him where his ride cymbal usually is!  The rest of us have Blackstar amps turned up full throttle -  it's loud, rough & ready but sounds pretty decent considering!




* Chalet gig is a blast - play a shortened set to a group of loyal Attica fans, friends and chalet neighbours standing outside - we also have the HRH stage crew, Simon & Pet and friends and Colin our camera guy indoors with us so we've not much room to jump about but hey ho, this is rock n roll!!  We finish with our rendition of Motorhead's Overkill. Yas!
* It's competition winners Simon & Petrina's wedding anniversary and we present them with a card, celebratory bottle of champagne and a signed drum skin




*6pm - finally get to watch some bands.  Shout outs to fellow Glesga rockers Logan opening the main stage and Gun's new drummer Gordy McNeil (who we remember from his early days with Graduation Day and as ex-sound engineer in Glasgow venue, Rockers - great to see him now playing for Gun and up there on the big stage). Other bands we catch are Korpiklaani, Ratt, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Terrorvision and Monster Magnet.


SATURDAY

Another day, another gig!




*Cloven Hoof pulled out last-minute so Attica step in to fill their midday slot in the Queen Vic stage
*Awesome gig - we're loud, up-close and intimate with the assorted early-rise crowd. The loyal Attica fans & friends have come along - thankfully, no heckles from disappointed Cloven Hoof fans. Venue is pretty damn busy actually, considering it's only midday. New songs are working well, our on-stage mix and sound is near perfect and according to our close-knit confidantes who've seen many an Attica show, this is also the best we've sounded yet out front and one of our best performances.
*Legendary rock TV presenter, DJ, graphic designer and general rock mogul loon, Krusher, is in the crowd bopping his head and comes up afterwards to shake hands and tells us he enjoyed the set- rock 'ard, rock 'eavy, rock animal! :)





*Another moment of cool in Attica life happens when Dumpy - of Dumpy's Rusty Nuts - also expresses how much he enjoyed our set and likes our "modern, classic rock" sounds. Thanks dude!
*Marseille rock the Queen Vic stage good n' proper - we get chatting with the band later on - great bunch of guys - definitely keep an eye out for the return of these classic rockers next year (they're on the bill for HRH Roadtrip Ibiza!). For anyone who doesn't yet know - you might recognise guitarist Neil Buchanan from TV's Art Attack programme. And for anyone of a certain age-group, you might even remember him from the old Saturday morning kids TV show, No. 73, Finders Keepers and Motormouth.  Some child-hood starstruck moments for the Rage crew that day!






*Coolest item we're asked to sign at our signing session? Lynsey's peachy ass-cheeks :)  Rock n roll!  Even Krusher wants in on the action and signs his moniker over her inkybutt. We were using permanent markers too. haha!





Bands:
*We are all here to see W.A.S.P.!! We've been listening to them since we were Heavy Metal Tots so this is a special one and they rule the weekend.  "On Your Knees", "L.O.V.E. Machine", "Wild Child", "I Wanna Be Somebody" & "Blind in Texas" - classic songs played to perfection. 
*Girlschool played a blinder earlier on in the day -  the venue is rammed for them - we also catch the Quireboys, some of Lauren Harris & Marya Roxx, Spit Like This (excellent Sweet Transvestite cover!) and Toxic Holocaust but, aside from WASP, the night's other highlight is Onslaught - great turnout for them and they play with fire n bite.  Some of us catch the New York Dolls too.
*Saturday night partying continues into the small hours and a couple of us end up gatecrash a friendly Gloucester family's private chalet party (arriving armed with a crate of beer so at least we had something to offer!) before finally crashing out at 5am.




We met so many great people over the weekend - check out the HRH III photo album in our pics section - everything in there from the 3 gigs, the people, the parties and lots more in between (thanks to those who we've nicked pics from- cheers!).  There are also some video clips lurking around on YouTube.

The weekend was a complete success and another memorable experience - we all had a riotious royal ball at HRH III. 

Thanks to Jade, Fleur, Heidi and the team for looking after us so well and Neil, Wayne & the crew for top-notch stage management & sound engineering.

Special thanks to John Davis for the faith, belief, guidance and support - this is it, let the madness begin - here's to 2010!

And our love and biggest thanks goes out to all the Attica fans, friends and HRH family that made it so special for us - we'll see you at Hammerfest II and HRH Roadtrip Ibiza!

Cheers!










www.hammerfest.co.uk
wwww.hrhroadtrip.com

Attica Rage are extremely pleased to announce that we are now officially represented and managed by John Davis and HRH Management!

We announced this on-stage at Hard Rock Hell on the Saturday midday gig but wanted to let you all know of course!

Over the last couple of years, John has shown an interest and great support for the band and we know that under his guidance and with both our work ethos, determination & drive, we'll work together as a solid team going forward.

This is a major milestone for all of us in Attica and we're getting ready for the real hard work to come.  We want to invite everyone who has followed Attica over the last few years with us on this new chapter and exciting journey and help us spread the Rage and attack the heavy metal world in full force!

2009 has been a massive stepping stone year for Attica Rage with some real highlights but 2010 is going to be the biggest leap yet and we cannot wait!

Bring it on!

 

Guys, we wanted to let you know that the Early Bird discounts for HAMMERFEST II end at midnight on 31st December 2009 - so if you wanna pick up the cheaper deal tix and join us in March, best call the team on 08700 110034 and book pronto - or book online at www.hammerfest.co.uk

We are so excited about this one after the amazing weekend that was Hard Rock Hell III (blog diary coming soon!).  Latest additions to the Hammerfest bill include the mighty SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH and a touch of Sabbath with TONY MARTIN's HEADLESS CROSS joining ICED EARTH, NAPALM DEATH, DEVIL DRIVER, SKINDRED, ATTICA RAGE plus ORANGE GOBLIN, EPICA, KATATONIA, DARK FUNERAL, HEATHEN, WHITE WIZZARD, WARPATH, HURON & a whole bunch of other metal classics and rising stars.

Check out the flyer below and the official website and Hammerfest forums for all the latest line-up, info and HF banter!

Attica Rage are heading down to Prestatyn, North Wales on Thursday 3rd December for what is probably the most important show of our career to date - not only are we kick-starting the VIP Opening Party of Hard Rock Hell to an audience of 1200 plus 300 rock press & media - as well as performing a special live session in one of the on-site chalets - but we have good knowledge that we have serious management interest and several record label A&R will be in attendance for our set.  No pressure then!
 
Congratulations to PETRINA BOWER whose competition entry was selected by the promoters to have Attica Rage play a live afternoon session in her very own chalet during the weekend!  It is Petrina and her husband Simon's wedding anniversary that weekend so we hope we can add a special and memorable touch to their celebrations....if only by destroying their chalet with ear-bleeding decibels & Jack Daniels-fuelled rock n roll carnage! Bring it on - this is gonna be a riot!  Everyone is welcome to come along for the party - Simon has emailed us to say the fridge will be stocked with beers & Jaegermeister so get along and start the Friday off with a bang!  It's being filmed for the official HRH DVD too!
 
THURSDAY 3 DECEMBER - VIP OPENING PARTY
ARENA 2  -  8.00PM TO 8.40PM

FRIDAY 4 DECEMBER - CHALET PARTY
CHALET #121  -  3.30PM
 
Attica will be at HRH all weekend (our personal must-sees are the mighty W.A.S.P plus Queensryche, Ratt, Gun, Monster Magnet, Korpiklaani, Black Spiders, Beholder, New York Dolls, Pig Iron, Girlschool, Onslaught, Dumpys Rusty Nuts and Marseille though there are many more we hope to catch). If we're not watching the bands, we'll be at the bar so come and say hi if you see us.
 
We can't wait to get down and spread the Rage, armed with a bunch of killer new songs and fan-voted older favourites.  Hopefully, we'll have some very cool news to report on our return!


Before then, don't forget we're headlining the Glasgow Cathouse on Wednesday 2 December with 15 Times Dead and Dog Tired on the bill - tickets are still available in advance from Ticketweb.co.uk and Tickets Scotland as well a limited amount on sale on the door on the night......or get in touch with 15 Times Dead who are offering discount tickets - message them at www.myspace.com/15timesdead

Well, the new album recording has started!  We just returned from a week in the Tollhouse Studios, Glasgow with producer Roddy MacAudio where Richie tracked all his drum parts.

It started about 4 weeks ago where we went into the studio for pre-production rehearsals and recorded 18 songs live, partly for Roddy to work and map out tempos and plan out how to record them in the studio but also for us all to see which songs and sections needed working on.  We'd started off with about 23 ideas in total which we'd written, demo-ed at home and rehearsed between August and October and then cut the list down to 18 for the pre-production sessions.  After recording the live demos in pre-production, we shelved another 4 songs and continued working on the remaining 14 - editing, re-arranging, tweaking.....

Finally, it was ready to enter the studio to track Richie's drum parts. 

First, the kit needed preparation.  We delivered the kit into the studio on the Monday to give it time to climatise to the studio live room (after having been in storage since July...it needed it!).  All the drums were taken apart and given a good clean, sanding down and oiling where needed.  The bass drums were given some internal acoustic treatment in the form of foam-padding to eliminate the hollow shell slap.  Next, both bass drums and the four rack and floor toms had brand new Remo skins put on and tuned up and given another day of resting to settle in.  On Wednesday evening, Richie and Roddy set-up the full kit and placed the mics into position.  The rest of the band were there to get the line levels and headphone levels sorted to play guide riffs along when Richie would be recording his parts. After a few trial takes, everything was ready for recording to begin on Thursday.

Early morning start on the Thursday and Richie nailed 4 songs in the first day, finishing around 4.30pm.  Then we all bunked off to go and watch Alice in Chains at the Glasgow Barrowlands that night - awesome gig!  Absolutely amazing performance!

Fired up, we went back in for another day of drum tracking on Friday.  This was the most intense day out of the lot - Richie nailed another 5 songs.  Then on Saturday, we got through the remaining 4 tracks....although we did have plans to go back in on Sunday for one of them, we battled through and managed to get them all finished on Saturday. Which gave us Sunday free which was much needed by all of us, let alone Richie himself.

Even in the raw, un-edited states, the drums are sounding great at this early stage. Richie has done us proud once again and the sound quality is amazing.  Lots of punch and hefty kick and we can't wait to hear them once they've been edited and mixed properly.  Roddy will be working on this over the next couple of weeks while we get fired up for the big event at Hard Rock Hell and our two warm-up shows in Edinburgh & Glasgow.

After we return from HRH, Big C will be going back in to the studio to track the bass parts, with Bell and Jonny up after him for rhythm guitars, solos and vocals.

Here are some of the songs' working titles (but some are quite likely to change while we tweak the lyrics):

36 Insane; High; Hacked For Vanity; March of the Demons; Lost; Altered Reality; Ashamed; Road Dog; One Minute Silence; Change In The Iris; Altea; Swimming With Sharks. 

We're also re-recording a couple of older songs you might recognise but we'll wait and see how they turn out before we name them!

We've uploaded a bunch of photos from the studio sessions so far and will add more in December once we get back in - check out the New Album Studio Sessions photo album in our pics section of MySpace.

As for the album name?.......we haven't even got round to that yet but we'll keep you posted as and when any firm ideas surface!

Attica Rage have been included as one of the many featured bands in a new book covering the history of the Glasgow rock scene - 'Minstrels, Poets & Vagabonds' - written by Robert Fields.

Part biographical, with stories, anecdotes and behind-the-scenes accounts of Robert's own life journey in music and experiences as club DJ, live promoter and band manager and part historical, covering the history of the rock scene in Glasgow and surrounding areas - the bands, the artists, the venues, the fans and more - the publication is a fascinating read for anyone that appreciates great rock music.  There are also stories that include some of the greatest touring legends to pass through Glasgow as there are home-grown talent.

From the likes of Uriah Heep and Ozzy Osbourne visiting Glasgow through five decades of home-grown artists from the late 60s to the present day, some of the names covered include the legends of Frankie Miller, Alex Harvey and the SAHB, The Poets, Cream & Jack Bruce, The Heavy Metal Kids, Maggie Bell, Blind Allez and GUN, Heavy Pettin, Glasgow, La Paz, The Almighty, Drunken State, Big George & The Business, Hiding Place, Mendeed, The Hedrons, Logan, Yashin, Bleed from Within and yours truly, amongst many many others.

Accompanying the book is a 115-track online compilation listening post where you can access some of the songs from all the artists and bands featured.

Find out more info and buy your copy at www.minstrelspoetsvagabonds.co.uk

   

Who fancies joining us for a summer holiday like no other with 7 days of sun, sea and rock n' roll debauchery in Ibiza next June?  We're pleased to announce Attica Rage have been confirmed for Hard Rock Hell's new concept - the HRH Road Trip Ibiza!

Their idea is simple: why not take one of the worlds most famous islands, invite a 1000 of your best rock mates along for the trip and plonk them on the white isle of Ibiza with their families n kids in tow and have a total rock out over 7 days of fun-packed rock n roll debauchery. Add to that a Marshall wall for most of the evenings, bring in about 20 bands and let this new HRH horde party hard with artists, press, DJ’s and mates alike all over this sun-kissed isle.


This new niche event is proudly sponsored by Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Classic Prog, Rock Radio and Scuzz TV, who will each be hosting an arena during the weeks trip. There will be 5 big nights out, crossing the full spectrum of HRH. This will include, Classic Rock, NWOBHM, Classic and Battle Metal, Young Bloods and even a Prog evening with some special talent to be announced shortly. HRH will be taking the world famous venues within Ibiza and lacing them with Rock couture to make it all in line with this first ever rock n metal crusade onto the shores of Ibiza.

The event will not solely be about big nights out but will also include some unplugged acoustic sunset sessions on beach front venues plus all out madness in open-air venues during the day as well as multiple catamaran boats all rigged up for the sheer hell of it. Hotels are being kitted out exclusively for this special event plus a range of sport and day-time activities. There will also be a special HRH concierge service locally offering everything you need right down to restaurant bookings.

The concept may be described as insane, but that’s the boundaries that HRH continuously break, to create total rock n roll experiences. There will be 20 bands flown into party with the HRH horde as well as some local Spanish Talent to fill in the gaps. First bands to confirm include tried and tested HRH legends:

Wolf, Grand Magus, Die Apokalyptischen Reiter, Alestorm, TYR, Battlelore and Attica Rage who will be joined by many more, very shortly

In time the event will be open to all nationalities throughout Europe making this a new mile stone in the rock calendar. HRH has the ability to increase this 20 fold, but want to show the world what its all about before they crank it up to future levels.

HRH Promoter Jonni Davis said:-

"We’ve been working on this for a year now, we’ll have our own hotels, our own bars, our own venues, all as exclusive as we want them to be, being somewhat local experts by choice, only makes it easier to turn this into something that people will remember as a true rock experience for the rest of their lives. We are overwhelmed with the support from the trade, so only look at putting on something that’s off the chart….we’ve even went as far to open this up to peoples families and kids.

All rooms sleep 2 or 3 pax with air conditioning, TV and pool and we can play about with flights either side of these dates if needed, just call us.

Kids under 11 are free, kids 11/ 14, 50% …its that easy and if you need a baby sitter, we have trained qualified people at hand to take care of that too, so you don’t miss out on anything."


What’s Included:

New recruits: 1 week : £190 GBP

HRH veterans: 1 Week : £180 GBP

Prices includes 7 nights accom and entrance into all events including the boat trip, unplugged sessions and rally.  All other day-time activities are optional and separate to the package. Flights are not included but you can grab very cheaply and the earlier you book, the cheaper it is, most are up for about 50 / 70 quid at the moment. Or if you’re coming by Bike, no probs, parking is free.

 
What’s On:
 

5 big nights out (HRH favourites all the way) plus some locals

Unplugged acoustic sessions on the beach at sunset

Exclusive HRH Hotels

Open Air Rally

Some Rockeoke

A full-on Rock Boat

Ice breaker and pre-parties every night

Rock Quiz’s

A Full HRH concierge service

 
Plus Optionals:
 
Water sports

Day time activities

Beach Days

Shopping Trips for the Ladies

Go Karting

Scuba Diving

5 a Side


Get all the info and book tickets here : www.hrhroadtrip.com or phone 08700 110034

Sounds amazing and Attica are so excited to be a part of this - we hope the Clan Attica can join us from around the world for this very special summer rock n' roll holiday experience of a lifetime!

Attica Rage are pleased to announce we have signed an endorsement deal with Elixir Strings.

Jonny, Big C and Stevie from Attica Rage proudly use and endorse Elixir Strings

The track "Attica Rising" from our debut album Ruin Nation is included on the free covermount CD that comes with the new issue #198 of Metal Hammer magazine - on sale now.

The CD also features brand new music from SLAYER, KISS, ATREYU, EVERY TIME I DIE, SKINDRED, SKELETONWITCH, SONATA ARCTICA, INSOMNIUM and loads more.....so we're in good company!

www.metalhammer.co.uk/magazine